There's Always Next Time

With all the time I spend with runners, in person and online, new and experienced, I hear and read many phrases over and over. One comment that always worries me is when a runner says, "I'm doing it (a race), no matter what" in reference to a race.

Many runners sign up for a race to provide themselves with a goal and, threrefore, motivation. I understand this, and I agree that signing up for a race in the distant future is a good way to provide motivation. I do it all the time,  but if the runner then fails to train appropriately, the race must be, sensibly, removed from the calendar.

Unfortunately, some people stubbornly say, "I paid for it; I'm doin' it, no matter what." I just read this statement in a comment on another blog.

This is not wise. Really, it's not good to have the "I'm doing it no matter what" attitude at any time. The quantity and type of training - or lack of training - of course, varies.

When some people say this, they mean they didn't get in quite as much training as they had hoped. Maybe they had to go out of town for a week or so during their training. Maybe they came down with a cold that required them to back off for a few days. Maybe overtime at work cut into training time at home.

In these cases, it's not such a big deal, and the less than ideal training either will not impact the race at all or will only mean a slightly slower time. If the runner uses common sense and takes it easy, it is likely that the race will go off without a hitch. If the race is a half marathon or a marathon, and training was only impacted for a couple of weeks out of a six month training period, that runner may still be capable of having a safe race, and maybe even a very good race.

On the other hand, if the period of time that training was impacted was longer, or happened repeatedly during the training cycle, then, probably, the runner needs to pick another race and forfeit the race fee. Somtetimes race directors allow runners to defer to that same race the next year. The runner should always look into this possibility.

Only the runner - or the runner's coach - is in a position to know whether the runner's training was just less than ideal or was actually inadequate; this is a fine line, but it is one that must be addressed.

Many people currently participate in one of several beginning running programs. One thing that is pushing this wave is the availability of a phone app for C25k (Couch to 5k). I think that is a good program; the C25k program was developed by Cool Running and is responsible for getting many people off the couch. I'm sure there are other similarly helpful programs. The C25k program has the non-runner advancing to being ready to do a 5k nine weeks later.

The idea is to be ready to finish a 5k at that point; when the runner diligently follows this program, he or she probably is ready, but some people register for a race only nine weeks out from the start of the program and then fail to complete the prescribed workouts. In this case, it is a bad idea to do the race anyway. Whatever the race fee, it's not worth risking injury and interrupting the new runner's path toward fitness.

When a race must be postponed, it's sad for the runner, both financially and psychologically, but that's life. It's happened to all of us. The best thing is to pick another race and continue training with that new goal in mind. In this case, there likely will be many more races ahead, a lifetime of races, but if the runner stubbornly does the race when ill-prepared, an injury could put an end to that runner's racing, or at least bring it to a screeching halt for a while.

All any of us can do is study the race opportunities, make careful, realistic choices, and go for it. Most of the time, with conscientious effort, we will manage to achieve most of our training goals and the reward will be a good race, but one thing all sports teach all of us is how to deal with disappointment. When things don't go as planned, we have to be prepared to say, "Oh well," there will always be next time.